Software discontinued...help!

[pleased]

I am after advice concerning a database program I have used for years called OneStore originally published by a company called X2net.    The company closed down some years ago but the program remained on many download sites so I was always able to keep it going through various machine/OS upgrades.   I have quite a number of documents stores in this database now and the last time I used it successfully was within Win7 (a bit glitchy but usable).  However since upgrading to Win10 I find the program will not run at all.   I have tried all the compatibility options that Win10 provides with the same results.   It is too late now to go back to Win7 as over 30 days nor do I have the original installation file.   I believe the program is a Nexus database.    Any ideas how I can access my documents now??

[Shades]

Creating a virtual machine with Windows 7 and the archive you possibly could get from the internet's "wayback machine"?

The pages:  http://www.x2net.com/   &   http://www.x2net.com/downloads/   contain serial codes and all the downloads from X2net that is legal for them to distribute.

A file name search in Google is also an option: 'x2net_onestore_setup.exe' (as modeled after the names I saw on the official link) resulted in link and link. Trustworthy sources?  I have my doubts, but now you know the value of keeping the installers of software you actually use, backed up on a safe location (that is not the internet/cloud). From what I saw the installer is around around 13MByte or so, which is hardly any space at all.

[Nod5]

@pleased, try emailing the contact person in the whois for the x2net website, see https://who.is/whois...ttps://www.x2net.com . Ask them if they can email you the setup file for the last version of the program. If they are unable to distribute it then ask if you can get the sha1 or md5 hash value for that file. If you have the hash then you can on your own verify if a file on some third party site is identical to the official release.

For example this old tucows mirror has X2NetOneStoreSetup.exe (note that Firefox warns of "Unwanted Software Site" for this url)
http://tucows.archive.sunet.se/files7/ . I downloaded it (but have not and will not run it) and it has these hashes
md5 d564d34ce95aaf6414c4dce2e0f428d8
sha1 341217f166bca105d323514e468f7be205ba2db5
( One multi engine oneline virus scanner gave the file 1 red and 20 green flags. See https://virusscan.jo...lescanjob/94q40k5lc1 )

As a general note I think a software company that shuts down their operation ought to provide at least hashes for the last released version of the software to help customers in situations like this.

[IainB]

@pleased: If you go to http://www.x2net.com/ you will find a very helpful webpage. I have copied just the text below:

We regret to inform you that X2Net Limited has ceased trading.

The following license name/key pairs can be used to enable activation of existing products for which X2Net Limited held rights.
Product    License Name    License Key
          
WebCompiler V3.x    WebCompiler    000015-8KJH5B-KDNHD5-8UNYGP-222VQZ-CTW0KJ-4MGHVH-BT96TE-GAZ3VP-JH9JKQ
WebCompiler V2.x    WebCompiler    5139-332A-796C-13E1-38CC-EE40-F176-3E0A
X2Net Smart Address V5    SmartAddress    000MKE-N4B7GG-TZY5GE-QPBUUZ-2UXMEF-9PHHNE-Q5VQAX-WN6RXH-DZN7T9
Smart Address 2000    SmartAddress    26FB - 868D - D47C - 0B33 (Multi user code for 10 users is 31F6 - B6AC - 88A0 - ECA3)
X2Net SmartBoard    SmartBoard    01C0HY-YEA8MH-BBKVW1-W7GEHX-UA8K4W-T5FWCK-EN5J4V-U5H72H-TW52R0-05Z6RM
X2Net Calendar    Calendar    018E5F-38XVGA-H4PX2T-PE3T71-0JRF4X-BN5RAH-3UJ0BD-203MB1-04HVYK-H6E7QT
X2Net Contacts    Contacts    0186KT-JRXB5R-5NPMEB-166CUU-VVF31E-EQGERU-GY0MYD-1FYVDG-HD3MUE-F43216

 If the product you want is not listed then X2Net Limited no longer had rights to issue the keys.

Final installation files are available here.

If you are having difficulty entering keys there are small utilities to force the keys in available here. Simply stop the program in question, run the keyforcer and put the keys in, then start the program again.
_______________________________________

You should be able to get the latest installation X2NET proggies and licence keys from there - BUT NOT FOR  X2NET OneStore!
Looks like the developers were a pretty professional bunch and did a graceful shutdown.

I am currently playing around with installing and running the NoteStore application on Win10-64 Pro, and it seems to work, but with a few quirks.
It seems to be a rather nifty SQL database client-server application, but the "virtual printer" installation and Hotkey assignments are giving some probs.

There was also a suspect Trojan in the Uninstaller.exe file, but that was from a download via Brothersoft, where I downloaded onestore by x2net 1.1.0.205 from Free X2Net OneStore Download and found it had actually downloaded Version 1.1.1.205.

The downloaded file passed examination by my Windows Defender and Malwarebytes OK, and Virus Total.
The suspected trojan warning only showed up towards the later part of the installation after the virtual printer installation had been giving error messages that it was unable to complete. That may be a Win10 constraint, and the trojan alert may have been a false positive, but I didn't take any chances. The software installed OK otherwise, but with a few quirks, as I said above.
 
Found a useful discussion here: Outliner Software: X2Net OneStore

The latest (2010) Wayback website copy for http://www.x2net.com here: https://web.archive....net.com:80/onestore/
- which referred to Version 1.1.0.205, but I was unable to download from Wayback, so they hadn't captured a copy.

@pleased: What is the version number of the OneStore.exe file you have, please? (Look in file properties.)

[IainB]

I just now came across a BitsDuJour offer for X2NET OneStore, from Dec. 2008, where it says:

... Please note: An X2Net single-user license is now free! Today's promotion is for a commercial license or for a single-user license on a multi-user network installation.
Review Written by Roger Thomasson
Source: http://www.bitsdujou...tware/x2net-onestore
________________________________

From what you wrote, you would seem to have a single user licence. Would you be able to share the key? I haven't come across it in my searches so far.

[pleased]

@IanB:   Thanks for the info.  I was aware OneStore is a server/client affair but yes I have think I must have been using the single user free licence. Unfortunately I cannot locate this key either.

I have version 1.1.1.202

I will follow the suggestions in the replies and report results in due course!

[IainB]

@pleased: my testing with OneStore v1.1.1.205 indicates that:

• It seems to function OK in Win10-64 Pro, though it has a few odd quirks.
• You won't need a licence for the default 30-day trial period, and uninstalling it and reinstalling it would probably give you another 30 days. Maybe you won't need a licence key anyway?
• You will thus be able to make sufficient time to provisionally extract and migrate your existing OneStore stores onto another medium - my suggestion would be nested folders on disks, replicating the structure of nested folders in the stores.

Though I quite like some of the features in OneStore, it would still seem to be a bit outmoded and kludgy in use, even if it were not quirky in this OS.
And though I quite like the idea of this software, the wisdom of using a proprietary and obsolete/unsupported database to hold your precious data should be questioned. It is arguably an obsolete approach mirroring what you probably could do just as easily (if not more easily) using a modern Windows PC, disk, and Windows file manager (or, say, something like xplorer²) and Windows Desktop Search.
There are some good alternative PIMs (Personal Information Managers) that are not at/near the moribund end of their lifecycle, and which have similar or better functionality than OneStore. Therefore it is probably an appropriate time to review your requirements in the light of what is currently possible using more modern technology. So don't just go looking for a OneStore twin or clone.
Testing will reveal whether OneStore v1.1.1.202 or v1.1.1.205, or both, will be able to handle your v1.1.1.202 database (stores). However, the good news may be that you are not as stuck as you might have thought.

[pleased]

IanB:    Thanks for your interest, I accept your points entirely, and will just be happy to export the files into folders and go from there.

I have successfully installed version 1.1.1.205 on my Win10-64 Home machine but it still refuses to run with windows instantly throwing a 'a problem caused the program to stop working correctly' message.   I have tried every compatibility option and disabled AV & firewall but no joy.

I am sure some simple setting on my laptop is preventing it from running but at this moment it is a mystery what!

[pleased]

UPDATE.  Have successfully installed OneStore version 1.1.1.205 on WinXP within a virtualBox but now got to work out how to open my old store instead of the default new one...

[Shades]

OneStore does not have an import function?

You could find out where the files of the default new store are stored. Verify if the file name(s) of the file(s) from your old store are the same.

• If that is the case, you can try replacing the file(s) from the new default store with the file(s) from your old store. Make sure to close OneStore down completely (that includes background services if there are any) before you do this. By doing so, there shouldn't be any process 'locking' the store file(s).
• If that isn't the case, you can try replacing the file(s) from the new default store with the file(s) from your old store using the file-name(s) from the new default store. Make sure to close OneStore down completely (that includes background services if there are any) before you do this. By doing so, there shouldn't be any process 'locking' the store file(s).

After that you should start OneStore (and background services if there are any). If it doesn't crash and your old data appears, you are in luck. But to be honest, this method is a 'hail Mary' move and could result in OneStore crashing. Depends if there were changes in the data format/structure of the file(s) created by the version of the OneStore instance that contained all your info and the store file(s) from the newer version of OneStore you want to use now. Crashing OneStore isn't too big of a deal, as long as you copy your old store file(s) into the new location, not move the old store file(s) into the new location.

The version difference between the version you had and the new one seems to be a minor one, so it is quite safe to assume there are no (significant) changes in the ways data is stored. But always remember: assumption is the mother of all f.ck-ups.

Find out if there if there is a function in OneStore that allows you to import your old store file(s) into the new OneStore instance first. Decently written software provides you with an import functionality.

[IainB]

OneStore does not have an import function? ...
________________________

-Shades (February 20, 2016, 11:46 AM)

Yes, it does, but you can only import an Export file!   
Good points all.
OneStore lets you tell it where to go look for a database (Store) server, so that would seem to be the best route to take.



Help file Page 6 - location of default Store on the server machine:
(You need to put all your old database/Store files in here.)
The Help notes say this is true for Vista. It is also true for my Win10 installation as well (I just checked).
However, to be sure, you will need to hunt around for this folder to verify if it is true on an XP install - it might be different.



Nearly there!

[IainB]

@pleased: Thankyou for introducing me to X2NET OneStore with your query. I have learned a lot from it and am quite impressed with its potential as a personal DMS (Document Management System). I have posted a review separately in the relevant forum: X2NET OneStore - Mini-Review ("also-ran")

Sorry I can't help to explain why you are apparently unable to install OneStore in your Win10 OS, whereas I managed to do it first time with no real hitches.

It struck me that, if your old OneStore Store(s) are big, then you might be in for a world of pain to migrate all your stuff out of them - especially given that some of your data could well be stored in a proprietary OneStore format (see my review), and thus making export standards issues potentially tedious to work around.

You could well find it worthwhile to consider continuing to use OneStore, if you could just get it running on Win10 or another OS (and if you have a default single user licence). I wouldn't necessarily say that it was dead yet. That could give you time to look for a replacement and take your time about it.

[pleased]

@IanB, @Shades.   Thanks guys,  I have spent a couple of days playing around and finally got into my OneStore by using an installation within Vista and replacing the newly created database files for my old store files  .  I now have 30 days to export anything important.

Thanks again for all the advice.